Every year for the last several years Runner's World has hosted a running streak challenge from Memorial Day through the 4th of July. The goal of the challenge is to encourage runners to get out for a run every day between the two holidays. That's 41 consecutive days of running.

I kicked it off yesterday with a sweaty five miler.



In normal times, I'm not usually one to embrace a running streak. I'm too injury prone. In fact, the last time I attempted to do this running streak several years ago, I got hurt and had to stop half way through.

But with quarantine canceling all plans and leaving my days largely without any structure other than work, it seems like an ideal time to give this running streak a try. I'm confident I can get through it injury free if I'm smart about it.

Run streaks themselves don't come with many rules. You just have to run at least one mile each day. But I'm giving myself some extra rules to make sure I don't get hurt.

1. No more than one run longer than five miles each week. This is pretty self explanatory. I want to give myself the option to run a bit more distance when I want, but I don't want to pile too many miles on my legs.

2. At least two runs each week of no more than 1 mile. Rest and recovery are important. I need to remember that.

3. Keep crossing training. I've built a really consistent strength training routine during quarantine, and I don't want to abandon that because of this run streak. Plus strength training prevents muscle imbalances, which are a big cause of my injuries. So I'm tentatively thinking I'll do my strength workouts on the same days I run just one mile.

4. Slow down. All the running experts out there say we're all running our easy runs too fast. I know I'm super guilty of that. This morning I tried to force myself to run my three mile loop slower than normal.



I know this was still too fast, but my stupid ego gets in the way whenever I try to run slower. This is going to be the hardest rule for me. I'm just going to have to try to beat into my head that recovery and easy runs makes me a stronger and faster runner when it matters.

5. Don't overthink it. Just get out and run. A mile isn't far. It takes like 10 minutes. I have literally no excuse to not find 10 minutes each day while stuck in quarantine.

So that's my plan. We'll see how it goes, but I'm excited to have some sort of running goal for now, since who knows when races will come back.